Puff pastry apple parcels with Calvados butter sauce

Method

1. Soak the sultanas in the Calvados for 1 hour. Drain the sultanas, reserving the Calvados. Sprinkle the sultanas with the cinnamon.

2. Preheat the oven to 190ºC/Gas 5.

3. Core the apples and top and tail them so that they stand level. Fill the apples with the soaked sultanas.

4. Roll out the puff pastry to 3mm thickness. Cut out four puff pastry rectangles about 18 x12.5cm each.

5. Brush the edges of the rectangles with the beaten egg yolk. Wrap each rectangle around an apple and place on a baking sheet. Make a small cut in the top of each apple parcel.

6. Bake the apple parcels for 20 minutes.

7. Meanwhile, place the caster sugar, water and liquid glucose in a heavy-based pan. Heat up the mixture and cook briskly until the syrup turns to a pale amber colour. Stir in the butter and 125ml of the double cream.

8. Add the Calvados to the butter sauce then pass it through a fine-meshed sieve.

9. After the apple parcels have been baking for 20 minutes preheat the grill. Remove the apple parcels from the oven and dust generously with the icing sugar. Place under the hot grill until glazed.

10. To serve, place each apple parcel on a warm serving plate and surround with the butter sauce. Dot the sauce with the remaining cream and, using a skewer, create a feather pattern with the cream. Serve at once.